Young People Making Joyful Noise for Pope

11 July 2010
 
Three young Catholics from our diocese travelled to London for training day at the Bishops' Conference in London. They were given an insight into the ever evolving social media landscape with the help of Julie Etchingham of ITV News. 

The were encouraged to embrace all the tools and apps available to profile the forthcoming visit of the Holy Father to England and Scotland

Together with parishioners from the dioceses of Southwark, Westminster, Nottingham, Plymouth, Arundel and Brighton, Brentwood and Menevia they heard about generating ‘joyful noise’ about September’s papal visit in using social media.

Alice O’Neill from Bristol was one of the participants.  She told cliftondiocese.com: “As all of us who attended the day have, in some cases, almost too great a familiarity with social media, the main topic was how to use the sites and apps in the most efficient way to generate as much talk as possible.

“As the Holy Father has said ‘It falls, in particular, to young people, who have an almost spontaneous affinity for the new means of communication, to take on the responsibility for the evangelisation of this ‘digital continent’.’  This is a great time to be a young Catholic in Britain, with the papal visit this year, and World Youth Day in Madrid next year. We have the great honour and joy of being able to stand witness to our faith, and a brilliant opportunity to share it with the rest of the world.

“Three of us from Clifton attended the day, and we are all enthused and looking forward to sharing our experiences with the rest of the diocese. It was lovely to be part of such an energised group, and it is great to be able to be part of something that truly shows that the stereotype of an aging church is simply not so.”

The Auxiliary Bishop in Westminster, Right Reverend John Arnold commended the young people in their work.  He said: “It is incredibly important work – it is an immense responsibility and privilege that you have of communicating the Gospel in the 21st century using all the digital means available.”
 
Guest speaker, Royal Television Society Presenter of the Year and practising Catholic Julie Etchingham, inspired the young trainees with a talk about the media and coverage of the Papal Visit.
 
The London training day took place at the Bishops’ Conference in London.  A further training day took place in Liverpool on Friday (9 July).

The three local participants have been on touch with cliftondiocese.com letting us know about their background and what they’ll be up as the part of the Catholic Church in the West of England, which is so much looking forward to the Holy Father’s historic visit.

My name is Gerard Owen and I am 22 years old and this summer I shall graduate from Exeter University where for the last four years, I have studied for a BA in History and German. Like many other volunteers this autumn, I will be working as a Communications Officer during Pope Benedict XVI’s visit to the United Kingdom between 16 and 19 September. I will be present during his visit to London on 17 and 18 September and report everything that happens there through the media. However I am also honoured to be attending this event in another capacity as a representative for my home parish of Clifton Cathedral. I am also eager to meet other Catholics from around the country and the world who, like me, will make the physical and spiritual journey to Westminster in September, hearing their stories and sharing mine with them and with you all.

I am Luke Dowle and I am from the parish of Our Lady of Lourdes and St Michael's in Blaisdon, and have Father Aidan Murray SDB as my parish priest. Currently I have just finished my third year at the University of Bristol studying Geography and will continue my studies there next year working towards a Masters. I am involved with the Catholic chaplaincy at the university where Father Robert King is the Chaplain and I am the Communications Officer for the society at the moment. I spent my gap year before university living in an international Catholic lay community in the Black Forest, Germany. The organisation was called ICPE and I participated on a school of mission for five months.  This involved weeks of teaching and training before going on outreach in East and South West Germany, where together in a group of about 20 we gave testimonies, drama performances and sign language songs on the streets proclaiming the message of Jesus. I too will be one of the Communications Officers for the papal visit in September. I look forward to the visit as the Pope, being the Vicar of Christ on earth as a successor of St Peter which is incredible considering that almost 2,000 years have passed since the start of the Church.

I am Alice O’Neill and I am 19 years old and will be starting my degree in Primary Education and Spanish in 2011. I am from the Cathedral Parish in Clifton, where I have been an altar server for nearly 12 years. In September I will be one of the Communications Officers for the upcoming papal visit. Pope Benedict has said that: “It falls, in particular, to young people, who have an almost spontaneous affinity for the new means of communication, to take on the responsibility for the evangelisation of this ‘digital continent’.” As a young Catholic, I am wholeheartedly willing and eager to spread the good news that is our faith. I feel that this is a great time to be a young Catholic in Britain, with the papal visit this year, and World Youth Day in Madrid next. We have the great honour and joy of being able to stand witness to our faith, and a brilliant opportunity to share it with the rest of the world, Catholic or not.

We approach the Papal Visit with great excitement and anticipation, for this is a historic event for the UK and the Catholic Church. It is only the second time since Henry VIII’s break with the Church in 1534 that a Pope has visited our country. Furthermore Pope Benedict travels to the UK on the invitation of Her Majesty the Queen, making it a state visit. To that end he will address not only members of the Catholic Church in the United Kingdom, but the entire British population. We believe the visit will also be a chance for people to see and hear the humility of Pope Benedict and the message of love and hope that he brings for us all.

In his 44th World Communications Day for 2010, Pope Benedict called upon us to further develop good work already begun by proclaiming the Gospel and we look forward to meeting this challenge and helping us all to answer the call “to be a People of Hope”. As Communications Officers, we will be sending regular reports back to the parish and diocese, so look out for us in the newsletter, on cliftondiocese.com and in person. You can also follow us on Twitter - for Gerard and me.

Much more about the Holy Father's historic visit in our report from earlier this week with Father Michael McAndrew our Papal Visit Coordinator.

There's more papal visit news in our article from earlier this week, and on Monday (5 July) our Youth Ministry Coordinator Dave Wheat told us about the excitement and planning that’s going on with young local Catholics as look ahead to the papal visit. 

The official website thepapalvisit.org.uk is the best place to find out the most up-to-date information in the build up to the special time in the life of the Church in our countries.